Apple Music Gets a New Black-and-White Brand Identity Inspired by Sound, Liquid Glass

Apple introduced a refreshed brand identity for Apple Music on Wednesday. The Cupertino-based tech giant has given its music streaming platform a new visual language built around sound waves, physical vibrations, and glass-like effects. The redesign follows the appearance of a new logo and app icon earlier this month. Apple has also created a new audio mnemonic to accompany the updated branding, which is claimed to extend across Apple Music's marketing, original content, events, and product experiences.

Apple Music's New Brand Identity

In a behind-the-scenes video shared on YouTube, Apple explained how it developed the new Apple Music identity around the idea of being “made by sound”. The tech giant worked with advertising agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab, music producer Fred again.., and his collaborator NEST Acoustics to translate a musical composition into physical movement and, eventually, a visual identity.

Instead of initially focusing on the visuals, Apple is said to have used sound vibrations to generate the shapes and patterns seen in the new branding. Individual musical notes were played through a transducer, which is a device that converts audio signals into physical vibrations, placed in a shallow bath of mineral oil.

The result was ripples, waves, and light refractions that were filmed and used to develop the new logo and accompanying visuals. Apple said that the process involved months of experimentation and collaboration.

The refreshed branding also draws on Apple's Liquid Glass design language, which debuted across its software platforms last year with updates such as iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, and macOS Tahoe. The new identity combines the movement of sound waves with glass-like optical effects. This, as per the company, creates a visual system intended to give Apple Music a recognisable look of its own.

The redesign includes a shift from red to black and white, alongside updated visual and audio elements. Apple had previously teased the updated wordmark in September as part of marketing for Apple Music Hall, its new live music venue in London. The wider rollout is expected to continue with upcoming software releases, including iOS 27.2 and macOS 27.2.